Press Releases

Flower Festival Puts Spring in the Springfield Museums

March 20, 2018

Welcome spring and join the Springfield Museums for the annual Festival of Flowers, Thursday, April 5–Sunday, April 8, 2018. This beautiful and creative annual celebration attracts more than 4,000 people to the Museums where visitors can bask in the beauty of floral arrangements created by local florists, designers, and garden club members.

Barbara Derose of Springfield first joined the Springfield Garden Club in 1974 when the Springfield Museums presented an annual flower show called Art in Bloom. Through the Art in Bloom program Barbara became a person who did not just plop a bouquet of flowers into a vase, but instead she became an artist using flowers as her medium. “The exciting part was going to look at a painting and being stimulated in how to interpret it,” she said recently as she prepared for this year’s Festival of Flowers. “That was very exciting.”

The line, shape, or color of a painting could be what influences the arrangement she said. Or, she said, the inspiration may be something about the emotion or message of the painting. “It is fun to bring someone new to the event and spend time looking and discussing the works. That is very rewarding.”

The Festival of Flowers, which is an outgrowth of Art in Bloom, is in its 6th year. And Barbara’s arrangement is one of many that is sure to attract attention and spark conversation and awe.

The Festival of Flowers has become one of the most anticipated moments in the Museums’ calendar. Free with museum admission.

The firm Frederick Law Olmsted founded over a century ago was involved in over 1,200 landscape architecture projects throughout Massachusetts, ranging from expansive 500-acre public parks to intimate private gardens. One of its greatest achievements is a six-mile “emerald necklace” of ponds, parks, and parkways that winds its way through Boston. This one-hour illustrated lecture will sample this rich landscape legacy and explore the ideas that shaped some of the most treasured places in Massachusetts. $2 members; $4 nonmembers

Claude Monet was an avid horticulturist and arguably the most important painter of gardens in the history of art, but he was not alone. Great artists like Van Gogh, Bonnard, Sorolla, Sargent, Pissarro and Matisse all saw the garden as a powerful subject for their art. These great artists, along with many other famous names, feature in an innovative and extensive exhibition from The Royal Academy of Arts, London.

From the exhibition walls to the wonder and beauty of artists’ gardens like Giverny and Seebüll, the film takes a magical and widely travelled journey to discover how different contemporaries of Monet built and cultivated modern gardens to explore expressive motifs, abstract color, decorative design and utopian ideas. Guided by passionate curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, this remarkable collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and avant-garde artists of the early twentieth century will reveal the rise of the modern garden in popular culture and the public’s enduring fascination with gardens today. Long considered spaces for expressing color, light and atmosphere, the garden has occupied the creative minds of some of the world’s greatest artists. As Monet said, ‘Apart from painting and gardening, I’m no good at anything’. For lovers of art or lovers of gardens, this is an ideal film. Free with museum admission.

Children will explore the world of flowers through hands-on activities. Arrange your own bouquet, make wildflower seed paper to plant at home, taste honey, and learn about the role of pollinators, and touch flowers from around the world. Children will receive a free copy of Daisy-Head Mayzie while supplies last. Free with museum admission.

11-1 Make Your Own Bouquet–Get some tips on choosing and arranging flowers and create your own beautiful flower bouquet to take home! Seating for this activity will begin every half hour and small children will need caregiver assistance. Deco Room, DMFA

11-2 Family Science Adventures-Explore the Science Museum and find the Roving Scientist. You never know what kind of demonstrations and hands-on activities they have in store for you! Roaming

11-3 Honey Tasting–Visit the bees of the Springfield Science Museum and learn how and why these pollinators make honey. Taste test honey made from the pollen that’s been harvested from a variety of plants. Honey is not recommended for children under 1 year old. Mammal Hall, SSM

11-3 Bee-Bots in the Flower Garden–Learn simple coding while you program the Bee-Bots to move around the garden and help pollinate the flowers. Mammal Hall, SSM

11-3 Do Touch the Flowers–While the rest of the flowers across the museums today are artfully arranged and hands-off, these blossoms are hands-ON. What do rose petals feel like? How about carnations? Explore a variety of textures at this do-touch station. Habitat Hall, SSM

Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from Springfield Museums. (You can unsubscribe anytime)

Constant Contact Use.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Springfield Museums, 21 Edwards St, Springfield, MA, 01103, http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact